Two hours passed. Wyatt was up on t

Two hours passed. Wyatt was up on the roof of the post office
building with Dawson and
Causton. It was a tall
building, and they could see right across Santego Bay to Cap Sarrat.
The sky began to grow
lighter in the east.
There were no clouds, and no wind, but it was very hot. Manning came
up on to the roof to see
Wyatt.
'Any news?' he asked. Wyatt shook his head.
Suddenly, Causton said, 'What's happening at the US Base? Look!'
They looked, and saw plane after plane taking off from Cap Sarrat.
They saw first one ship,
then another and
another, begin to move out to sea. The US Navy was on the move.
'Brooks is leaving the Base,' Wyatt said excitedly. 'They'll have the
latest satellite pictures of
Mabel. They must
know that she's changed direction!'
'My God!' shouted Manning. 'There is going to be a hurricane.'

The room downstairs was full of people. 'So, the big wind is coming,'
said Favel. 'What should
we do, Mr Wyatt?'
'Get everybody out of the city,' Wyatt said at once. 'Perhaps
Serrurier will agree to stop
fighting while
The soldiers laughed. 'Serrurier?' said Favel. 'He doesn't care about
the people. And he knows
that we don't have
hurricanes here. He told you - remember? No, we must continue
fighting
and hold back his
army, while we get the
people out.' He turned to Manning. 'Charles, this is your job. I want
you to get everybody out
of the city, except the
army. Send the people up the Negrito valley, but keep them well away
from the river. You can
have two thousand
soldiers to help you.'
'Julio!' said Manning. He held his head between his hands. 'We can't
do it! We haven't enough
Ä'
'If the people won't move,' continued Favel, 'push them. If
necessary, you'll have to shoot a
few. There's no time to
explain or to argue with them. Just get them out. In ten hours from
now I want every man,
woman, and child out of St
Pierre.'
'Impossible!' said Manning.
Favel looked at him. 'Do it, Charles,' he said softly.
Manning closed his eyes. 'OK,' he said. 'We get them out. Then what?'
'Then we'll let Serrurier and his army take St Pierre. For the first
time ever, a hurricane will
become a weapon of war.'
Favel smiled, gently.
The room was silent for a second. Then Wyatt found his voice. 'You
can't do that!' he said
shakily.
'Can't I?' Favel turned his fierce blue eyes on Wyatt. 'I've been
trying to kill those men with
bullets and with bombs.
And they want to kill me and my men. Why shouldn't I let the
hurricane

have them? Many of my men will die while we fight to give the people
time to get out.'
'I warned you about the hurricane in order to save lives,' said
Wyatt, 'not to take them.'
'Think, man!' said Favel angrily. 'What do you want me to do? Leave
my men in the city to
drown in the floods? I
must take my men out, and when we leave the city, of course
Serrurier's army will come in.
I'm not asking them to
come in.'
'How far out of the city will you go?' asked Wyatt.
'We will stop on the hills around the city, at the 25 metre contour
line. You told us that we'll be
just above the floods
there.'
'If you go higher, then Serrurier's soldiers can follow you to higher
ground, where they'll be
safe.' Wyatt was almost
shouting now.
'No!' Favel banged his hand down on the table. 'I don't wish to fight
any more battles. Let the
hurricane do its work.'
'But it's murder!' Wyatt said wildly.
Favel stared at him. 'War is murder,' he said.
Wyatt spent most of the morning on the roof, staring miserably at the
clear blue sky. He
wanted desperately to go
and look for Julie. Where was she? Would she find a safe place to
shelter during the
hurricane? He tried not to think
about Favel's terrible plan.
At one o'clock Causton came up to see him. 'Anything happening?' he
asked.
'Mabel's on her way,' said Wyatt. 'Look at those clouds.'
A few thin, high clouds were appearing in the south. The air was hot
and heavy. There was no
wind at all.
Causton looked at Wyatt's unhappy face. 'You're still angry with
Favel, aren't you?'
'He's as bad as Serrurier.'
'Look, Wyatt,' Causton said, 'you're not thinking clearly. It's not
an easy plan, you know. Favel
has five thousand
men against Serrurier's fifteen thousand. He was lucky to take St
Pierre at all, and he hasn't
won the war yet.
Serrurier's army is already beginning to attack, from the west and
the south east. Favel has
only three thousand
men to fight, while the other two thousand get the people out of the
city. And then Favel has to
get his men out, and
up to the 25 metre line - if Serrurier's guns haven't killed them
first.'
Both men were silent for a while. Then Wyatt asked, 'Have they
finished moving the people
out?'
'No. It's difficult to move sixty thousand people in a few hours.'
Causton said no more. He had
been out in the city all
morning. Favel's soldiers were pulling people from their homes, and
driving them like sheep
along the streets. There
was no time to explain, to be patient. People who tried to turn back
fell under the feet of the
crowds. People who
argued were shot. Dead bodies lay at every street corner. It was
terrible, cruel, violent. But it
was necessary.
At three o'clock heavy, grey clouds began to move across the sky. It
was hotter than ever, and
there was a thin
circle of cloud around the sun. Wyatt went down to see Favel.
'Mabel will hit at about five o'clock,' he told Favel. 'You'll have
winds of about a hundred
kilometres an hour, and
they'll get worse very quickly. The tidal wave will hit probably soon

after six o'clock. And in the next twenty four hours you'll have
between twelve and
twenty five centimetres of rain.'
Favel turned to Manning. 'We'll have to hurry, Charles. Start moving
our men out now.'
'Serrurier is pushing hard from the south,' said Manning tiredly.
'I'll do my best, Julio.' He left
the room quickly.
Favel turned back to Wyatt. 'Thank you, Mr Wyatt,' he said calmly.
'Please inform me at once
of any change.'
The sound of guns was now much louder, as Serrurier's army fought its
way back into the city.
Slowly, Favel's
soldiers moved backwards street by street, while the last of the
people were pushed out of the
city. Many soldiers
died. At four o'clock Favel ordered his men to blow up the big guns.
There was no time to
move them. Twenty
minutes later Favel gave the order to leave the city. From the back
of Favel's army car, Wyatt
looked back through
the window to the south. Low, grey clouds now covered the sky, and
the smoke from burning
buildings was driven
sideways by the rising wind. It was half past four in the afternoon.

ผลลัพธ์ (ไทย) 3:

Won national

.Won national

.Won national

.Won national

.Won national

.Won national

.Won national

.Won national

.